university of illinois - UIHistories Project

382 BOARD OF TRUSTEES [April 18
LEGISLATION RELATING TO CHICAGO UNDERGRADUATE DIVISION
President Livingston called attention to the following bills for legislation
and a resolution relating to the Chicago Undergraduate Division
introduced in the Seventieth General Assembly of Illinois:
Senate Bill 175 to amend a present law which authorizes the establishment
and operation of a branch of the University of Illinois in Chicago by providing
that the branch of the University in Chicago shall offer undergraduate curricula
and award appropriate degrees which shall correspond as closely as possible to the
undergraduate curricula and degrees available at the University at Urbana.
House Joint Resolution 25 creating "a committee consisting of 3 members of
the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker, and 3 members of the
Senate appointed by the Committee of Committees: provided, no more than 2
members from each house shall be of the same political party. The committee shall
confer with the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois and any person
or persons employed by said board in conducting research regarding the establishment
of a permanent site for the Chicago Undergraduate Division of the University
of Illinois for the purpose of determining the extent and the results and findings
of any study conducted by the board or persons employed by the board; the
problems which the board has already encountered and the problems to be incurred
in relocating the Chicago Undergraduate Division; the requirements which anv
proposed site must meet in order to merit the board's approval and the criteria by
which the board determines the desirability of any site; the sites which the board
has found to be satisfactory as a permanent location for the Chicago Undergraduate
Division, including the board's order of preference for such sites and reasons
therefor; and the sites which the board has found to be undesirable and the reasons
therefor. The committee shall report its findings and recommendations to this
General Assembly as soon as possible, but not later than April 30, 1957."
House Bill 611 to authorize the Board of Trustees to acquire property for a
permanent site for the Chicago Undergraduate Division in the city of Chicago
and making appropriations of $3,750,000 for this acquisition, and $250,000 for
educational, architectural, and engineering plans. This Bill would specifically
authorize the acquisition of a site "in the City of Chicago" which presumably
would require that any land acquired for this purpose would have to be within the
city limits.
After discussion of these proposals, Mr. Bissell presented the following
statement as representing the consensus of the Board with
respect to Senate Bill 175:
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois has considered Senate
Bill No. 175 of the Seventieth General Assembly.
According to the bill, "the trustees of the University of Illinois are directed
to establish and operate a branch of the University in the City of Chicago, which
shall provide for undergraduate curricula and award appropriate degrees which
shall correspond as closely as possible to the undergraduate curricula and degrees
available at the university proper at Urbana, Illinois."
The Board of Trustees is sympathetic with the objective of establishing a
full branch of the University, located effectively to serve commuting students
from the Chicago area, when the need for extension of the present program is
fully established and when resources are provided by the General Assembly.
The Trustees believe the first task, however, is the provision of a permanent
facility for the present two-year program, located at a site and built in a way to
permit expansion. A recommendation to this end has been submitted to the Governor
and the General Assembly. The Trustees believe, therefore, that the
directive proposed in Senate Rill 175 for the Board now to present a program for
a full-scale branch is unnecessary. The replacement of the Navy Pier facilities
will require five or six years in planning and building, a period sufficient in which
to decide appropriate next steps.
Further, the Trustees believe the present language of the bill is unwise in that
it is unnecessarily restrictive as to site and would require a duplication of programs
without regard to necessity, or to relationships with other institutions in
Chicago and to the programs available at Champaign-Urbana. Such unplanned and